Contests! – Eileen's Machine Embroidery Blog

Archive of ‘Contests!’ category

We’re So Proud!

May 8, 2013 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Applique, Be The Difference, Behind the Scenes, Clothing, Color and Design, Contests!, Continuous Embroidery, Digitizing, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Home Decor, Hooping, In-the-hoop, Just for Fun, Lace, Lettering, Special Offers, Stabilizer Tips, Wearables / 86 Comments

Toot, toot! Beep, beep! A special digital issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery is free for you – just click here to access. You’ll find projects, free embroidery designs, videos from our sponsors and access to leading companies in the embroidery industry.

Wondering what’s inside? It’s packed with educational material for newbies, intermediate and advanced embroiderers. Devour the expert information on stabilizers and how to embroider on ribbon, polos and t-shirts! Learn to create continuous embroidery with confidence; stitch a little something for the man in your life and develop your designer’s eye – all in this one special issue!

Download the familiar .zip file, unzip and inside you’ll find an exciting interactive Adobe Acrobat PDF file you can read and enjoy from the convenience of your desktop computer or laptop. Use the free Adobe Acrobat reader to achieve full interactivity and flip through the pages, zoom in on projects and print whatever you’d like. Use the arrows on your keyboard to navigate through the pages: advance by clicking the arrows pointing down or right while the arrows pointing up or left will take you to a previous page.

Look for the mouse icon and click on it to activate the zoom feature and more. View the embedded videos by clicking the play button and enjoy.

We made it simple to navigate, easy to view and inspirational to read – I think you’ll see why we’re so proud of our new digital issue. My hat is off to the whole Designs team for making this happen – led by Sam Solomon, Denise Holguin, Stephanie Smith and Sandy Griggs. Designs wouldn’t be here without that team – they’re awesome! I think you’ll agree when you see what they’ve created.

A very special thank you to our valued sponsors: Brother, Embrilliance, Embroidery Library, Five Star Fonts, Janome America, HoopSisters, SWAKembroidery and Urban Threads – Enjoy!

Here’s your assignment this week:

Download our FREE digital edition of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. Give it a read and enjoy all of the interactivity, photo zooming abilities, videos and beautiful photography captured for each stunning project. Then, come back and leave us a comment on what you think about it – good or bad, we can take it. One lucky reader will win a gift certificate to Designs in Machine Embroidery for $25!

You can use that $25 to buy anything on our website including a 1 year subscription to our print magazine offered at the special price of $24.97 for a limited time only.

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Go over and give Craftsy a looksy! Tell us what classes interest you or if you’ve already taken a class on Craftsy – tell us what you love about it. One lucky reader will receive a link for a complimentary download of Eileen’s new class, The Machine Embroidered T-Shirt!

And the winner is…“I’ve been checking out Craftsy website, and some of the free classes. My sister told me about this site, she had taken a class and loved it! I would really LOVE to win the chance to take the T-shirt class. I have a fear to try new things, but I’m sure taking the class would give me more confidence. Thanks for sharing your embroidery expertise.” – Jane B.

Congratulations Jane, we hope you enjoy your class and share your experience with us!

Nancy Zieman’s Sew Knits with Confidence Blog Tour

April 23, 2013 by eileenroche / Clothing, Contests!, Nancy Zieman, Wearables / 107 Comments

Yeah! Another blog tour – combining a few of my favorite things – knits, anything designed by Nancy Zieman and gorgeous embroidery! So what did I get when I put all those things together? A new favorite garment – my Newport Pullover Tunic, pattern designed by Nancy Zieman. It’s the perfect canvas for embroidery – the cowl necks drapes softly over the shoulders displaying feminine embroidery designs and framing the face. The nifty little asymmetrical panel hits below the hip (that’s right– BELOW the hip! – thanks, Nancy!) and adds a playful touch to the garment. It’s soooo comfortable to wear, you’ll want one too. There’s a good chance you could win the goods to make one of your own.

Here’s how I created my tunic. I selected a comfy lightweight knit in one of my fabric colors – a deep slate that pairs well with brights, black or grays. And then I set off on planning the embroidery in Perfect Placement Software – which includes a delicious assortment of fashion embroidery designs.

The Newport Pullover

Embroidery Products
Perfect Placement Software by Designs in Machine Embroidery available at your local sewing machine dealer or http://www.dzgns.com

Materials
Nancy Zieman’s Newport Pullover available at http://www.nancysnotions.com, view 2
Knit fabric per pattern requirements
Floriani Wet ‘n Gone Tacky

Step 1 – At the Computer
Open a new file in Perfect Placement Software. Select Embellishments, Eileen, Earthtones, EileenB.

Select Embellishments, Earthtones, EileenC. Rotate and move EileenC to the left of the original design and resize it to 1.70” x .98”.

Select Embellishments, Earthtones, EileenA. Connect EileenA to the left of EileenC.

Copy, paste and mirror image EileenA. Move it to the far right. Go to Embellishments, Earthtones, EileenH and place EileenH on the end of EileenA.

Save this file as CowlCenter and send it to your machine in the appropriate format.

You might find it helpful to send two smaller segments to your machine. This will be helpful to decorate the cowl once it’s pieced together. Send the EileenB and EileenC combo to the machine.

Also send EileenA and EileenH to the machine.

On lightweight jersey fabric shown in the sample, use an adhesive water soluble stabilizer such as Floriani Wet N Gone Tacky. Add a basting stitch to hold the fabric to the hooped stabilizer. Stitch most of the designs on the flat fabric, starting in the center front and working towards the center back, one side at a time. At some point, the embroidery will be stitched across the center back seam. Do as much embroidery as possible before stitching the center back seam then add the embroidery across the seam.

But hey, don’t just take my word on how great Nancy’s pattern is, take a look at what these other blog tour participants did with one of Nancy’s patterns and view upcoming dates and links for the rest of the tour.

April 16, 2013 – Nancy Zieman the Blog

April 17, 2013 – Gretchen “Gertie” Hirsch

April 18, 2013 – Baby Lock

April 19, 2013 – Sew Beautiful Magazine

April 20, 2013 – Marie Madeline Studio

April 21, 2013 – Pamela Erny

April 22, 2013 – Amy Webb

April 23, 2013 – Sew News

April 24, 2013 – Eileen Roche

April 25, 2013 – Riley Blake Designs

April 26, 2013 – The Sewing Loft Blog

April 27, 2013 – Nancy Zieman the Blog

Here’s your assignment this week:

We love Nancy and know you do too! Leave us a comment on the best thing you’ve learned from Nancy over the years and we’ll pick 4 random winners to receive items from the Nancy Zieman Sew Knits with Confidence blog tour. Up for grabs; one winner will get the Sew Knits with Confidence book + Newport Pullover pattern featured in this blog, our second winner gets the Monterey Knit Collection pattern, next up for grabs is a Santa Fe Dress & Top pattern and the last, but not least, winner will get a Cape Cod Jacket pattern – all by Nancy Zieman!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Tell me how you get your embroidery fix, is it a daily activity or one you squeeze in when you find a free afternoon? Just leave a comment and you could win one of two Gold Memberships to Daily Embroidery. That’s a $120 value each!

Daily Embroidery’s Gold Membership program offers unlimited downloads to their massive and ever-growing design collection with two new designs added daily.

And the winners are…Leora B & Terrie Underwood! Congratulations!

Last Minute Men’s Wear for Your Man

December 12, 2012 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Color and Design, Contests!, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Quick Gifts, Wearables / 60 Comments

Looking for a last minute personalized gift for your man? Want to get your guy to wear embroidered duds? Think fast and subtle. Embroidering on blanks is one the quickest tasks an embroiderer can do. The key to getting your guy to wear embellished clothing is stitching something classy and modern. A plain, black button-down shirt can be elevated to a designer original just by adding a design to a trendy area.

When selecting embroidery designs for men, go for low stitch count designs – etched figures, sketchy motifs, and satin-stitched outlines. Reserve the heavy fill stitch designs for jacket backs, camping and sporting gear and hats. Plan on placing the embroidery over the side seam of the shirt. Print a template of the design from embroidery software and place the template on the garment. This will give you a heads up whether your design is going to work. Keep an eye on the scale – too small and it looks like a postage stamp. Too big and it’ll draw attention away from his masculine frame and great smile. Think of tattoo embroidery as an accent, a complement to his frame.

Iron fusible cut-away polymesh stabilizer to the wrong side of the design area. Hoop the design area. Position the needle over the center of the template or target sticker and stitch the design. Many masculine embroidery designs have few color changes if any, which makes your task easy! Just remember to select thread that separates slightly from the base fabric. Even though you’re going for subtle doesn’t mean the embroidery has to be invisible.

Once complete, remove the shirt from the hoop. Press the wrong side and release the excess stabilizer from the shirt. Trim the stabilizer leaving about ¼” around all motifs.

See how easy it is to create this embroidery. Just click here to see me demonstrate the technique on It’s Sew Easy television show. Season 300 is now up and ready – you’ll enjoy a new show every week.

Here’s your assignment this week:

The designers at the Sulky Embroidery Club want you to win a FREE Gold Membership. Just leave a comment below about why you’d like a membership in the Sulky Embroidery Club. To find out more about the Club and this $150 retail value, just click the ad. If you win, we’ll create an account for you, already loaded with 500 points, so you can begin shopping immediately. Choose from Joyce Drexler’s latest creations, called “Spoolies”, Carol Ingram’s new designs – just in time for the holidays, or the freshest embroidery designs from Team ES. There are hundreds of extraordinarily high-quality designs and projects to choose from, including fill, appliqué, outline, and 3-dimensional. New designs are added each month, so good luck!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Tell us the one machine embroidery item you’d like to have most this year for Christmas. One lucky winner will win a $25 gift certificate to spend on the Designs in Machine Embroidery website!

And the winner is… “Dear Santa, I would like a snap hoop, the Pal 2, More embroidery thread and stabilizers and one day without interruptions to finish my projects! Oh and of course peace on earth! Thanks” – Mercedes C.

Congratulations Mercedes! Thank you to everyone for sharing your wish lists with us.

Can It Really Be 30 years?

November 13, 2012 by eileenroche / Behind the Scenes, Contests!, Just for Fun, Nancy Zieman / 33 Comments

How do you go from taping a television show in your living room to commanding your own studio at Wisconsin’s largest PBS station? You do it one stitch at a time.

Nancy Zieman is one of our industry’s most humble leaders. I’ve seen her blush when recognized by 20-somethings in swanky malls, and graciously respond to waitresses when they ask if she’s that lady that sews on TV. I’ve seen her carry her own bags (way too many of them), bind her own quilts, mend a missing blouse button on a borrowed machine and step in front of a live studio audience to thunderous applause. I watched her reveal a lifelong fantasy in front of 500 hysterical ladies when she appeared in a cheerleading uniform and did the infamous Saturday Night Live cheerleading skit.

I’ve seen her channel Emeril Lagasse with Stitch it up a Notch. I’ve cried with her in a movie theater, on the phone and in person (we ride similar sappy emotional roller coasters). We’ve burst into laughter when flubbing lines during a taping and high-fived each other when we’ve gotten it right.

We’ve enjoyed beautiful gourmet meals from Madison to Houston and simple home-prepared meals in my house and hers. She has a terrific 5-minute fudge recipe and like any good Wisconsinite has a drawer full of quilted casserole covers just waiting for the next potluck dinner.

She makes everything she does look easy and that’s why her show has been the number one sewing show for 30 years. She’s comfortable in her television classroom and draws her viewers in to watch her break down complex projects into simple steps. She has set the bar in our industry and frankly, she doesn’t get the credit that she deserves. First there was Julia Child teaching America how to cook and then there was Nancy Zieman teaching the USA how to sew.

How did Nancy celebrate 30 years of success? By counting her blessings, surrounding herself with some of her favorite people and sharing the moment with 100 of her raving fans. I was honored when Nancy Zieman asked me to be a guest on the 30^th anniversary of Sewing With Nancy. What company!

Nancy, herself, of course, Gail Brown, Mary Mulari and Natalie Sewell. These ladies are the cream of the crop – all talented with their own gifts and each of us share a special relationship with Nancy. Gail and Nancy’s friendship dates back to the ‘70s when they were decorating their first homes. Mary Mulari, the most frequent guest on SWN with over 40 appearances, met Nancy in Minnesota during one of Nancy’s classes, since then they’ve sewn everything from aprons to zippers. A Wisconsin landscape quilter, Natalie Sewell unleashed Nancy’s new-found love of landscape quilting over a dozen years ago. Together they introduced thousands of American quilters to landscape quilting through television, books, personal appearances and quilt showings.

Out of the four of us, I’m the new kid on the block since I first met Nancy in 1999. Initially I was awestruck but she quickly put me at ease and allowed me to teach her and her audiences machine embroidery. And along the way, we’ve been blessed with a genuine friendship that spans the miles and years. I’ve learned so much from her, like how to sew, how to teach on TV, how to be true to your calling and how to run a successful business.

It was an honor to be a part of her anniversary celebration– a whirlwind and an honor. There was a special appearance at the Wisconsin Public Television board meeting where they toasted champagne to their fair-haired favorite child; a taping in front of a live studio audience; a comedienne and an invitation-only dinner. Most of all there was sheer joy and admiration for Nancy. She has worked hard against unbelievable odds – for thirty years. She tapes every two weeks – which is a phenomenon in itself. All other sewing shows tape an entire season in one week. And although the prep can be overwhelming, it is over in one week. Not for Nancy, every two weeks she has to get her game face on (and nails) and present an educational and entertaining show. I think that’s a lot of pressure. Hasn’t she done it well?

Click here to see the anniversary show! And leave a comment on Nancy’s blog to win one of 30 great prizes!

Sewing with Nancy is made possible by a team of people!

An Indispensable Tool

November 5, 2012 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Contests!, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Hooping, Uncategorized / 57 Comments

I can’t believe how indispensable this tool is. Recently, I was stitching 24 onesies, a daunting task even when it’s not crammed into a heavy travel, teaching schedule. I think the only thing that kept me sane during the process was thinking of the new parents of twins who would eventually receive the onesies. I know they haven’t slept more than 2 hours at a time in over three weeks so my task paled in comparison.

Back to the embroidery – the placement for center chest embroidery on onesies was simplified with the Center Chest templates from the Children’s Perfect Placement Kit.

Instead of using a round target sticker, I used the rectangular version and placed it lengthwise on the target area. This gave me a clear visual guide when hooping the tiny garments.

I hooped Floriani Wet ‘n Gone Tacky water soluble adhesive stabilizer in a 5” x 7” hoop for my single needle machine. Then I scored the protective paper and remove it to expose the sticky surface. I placed the hoop under PAL2, aligning the beam with the hoop’s centering marks.

I turned the onesie inside out and lifted the back of the shirt away from the front to expose the target sticker. Then I carefully placed the center of the target sticker under the beam.

Once aligned, I smoothed the shirt to the sticky stabilizer, working above the target and then below.

When it comes to quilting, PAL2 can multitask. I use it to find the center of a block.

And to make sure my seams are square.

I’ve been know to use it to trim blocks and cut fabric strips – all without using a ruler! I just align the beam with a line on the cutting mat, place the fabric edge on another straight line and then slice on the beam of light. Makes large cutting jobs fly by!

Do you want to win a PAL2? Leave a comment over at SewMamaSew and you’ll be entered in their Handmade Holiday giveaway.

The winner of last week’s assignment:

Have you stopped by the Embroider This! website lately? They have a selection of linens, blanks and baby items that are ideal for machine embroidery! Stop by their website and tell us what item you like best.

Post your comment and one lucky winner will be randomly selected to win a $100 shopping spree on the Embroider This! website! Embroider This is the name you can trust for Unique Gifts, Fine Linens, and Blanks for Machine Embroidery! Over 200 Free Designs for immediate download!

The winner is… Lori W.! “I love all the hankies and the boxes to give them in are a wonderful gift. All the new guest towels in all the colorful bands would make a great gift and also would be fun to keep! I seem to give most everything I make away!”

Congratulations Lori and keep something for yourself this time!

It’s time to discover great value, special offers and inspiration! (Part 1 of 2)

March 14, 2012 by eileenroche / Contests!, Just for Fun, Special Offers / 45 Comments

What makes the machine embroidery industry one of the most enjoyable and inspiring hobbies? It’s made up of real people who love the art, craft and sheer joy of machine embroidery and it shines through with the products and services they have to offer.

Let’s take a tour of the highlights from the current issue, Volume 73 March/April 2012.

Planet Applique – wow! Free alphabet appliqué designs with every order. Visit http://www.PlanetApplique.com to see their adorable, affordable and to-die-for appliqué designs.

Discount Embroidery Blanks has cozies, market totes, notebooks, key fobs, bath items…. Come to think of it there’s definitely something for everyone at http://www.DiscountEmbroideryBlanks.com

It’s going to be another Flip Flop summer at DigiStitches. Sign up for their newsletter and receive special coupon codes and offers to last you all summer long. Visit today at http://www.DigiStitches.com

iBroidery.com – Brother’s embroidery download center is at your fingertips – 24/7. Find Disney, Disney-Pixar and more – only at http://www.iBroidery.com Over 5,000 designs are a click away and there’s no need to purchase an entire collection. Look for Brother Sews on Facebook, You Tube and Twitter.

Love quilting with your embroidery? Then you’re going to love Anita Goodesign’s Mix & Match Quilting. Visit http://www.anitagoodesignonline.com for more information. While there, check their schedule – they just might be coming to a local dealer near you.

Trade-In and Trade-Up with Pfaff’s National Software Trade-In Event. Check out how versatile 5D™ Embroidery System is – works with any brand of machine. You could receive up to a $400 rebate when you trade-in and trade-up! Visit http://www.pfaffusa.com or call 1-800-997-3233.

Start a new journey with Janome’s Horizon Memory Craft 12000, it’s a perfect blend of advanced technology and signature ease-of-use all wrapped up in Janome’s superior stitch quality. Visit http://www.HorizonMemoryCraft12000.com today to begin your creative journey.

Want to stitch something different? Then http://www.urbanthreads.com is for you. Urban Threads has put an edge into machine embroidery that appeals to a broad range of embroiderers. Looking for something for that hard-to-buy-for 20-something? Look no further – Urban Threads is your answer. And I’ll bet you find something for yourself that you can’t live without! Urban Threads is not just for the young stitcher, it’s for all embroiderers.

How does Embroidery Library do it? They keep coming up with fresh ideas at low prices, tons of choices, a bevy of stitch knowledge all wrapped into one great world-wide community of machine embroiderers. Visit, browse and shop – you’ll be entranced with this site http://www.EmbLibrary.com

Feeling lucky? Enter a once-in-a-lifetime contest at http://www.Sulky.com The winner will join Fred and Joyce Drexler, co-founders of Sulky of America (and one of the industry’s most charming couples) on an all-expense paid trip for two to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Wow! Just like Sulky on Facebook to enter, http://www.facebook.com/sulkyofamerica

It’s not too late to join Martha Pullen’s 2012 Internet Embroidery Club. You’ll enjoy a value of over $700 in goodies for your one-time annual membership fee of $59.00 You’ll find tons of uses for the free-standing lace ornaments, 6 alphabet appliqué sets, in the hoop projects, vintage reproduction designs, shadow work and more. Click over to http://iec.marthapullen.com/ to sign up today.

Looking for a user-friendly auto-digitizing software? Then take a look at Buzz2Stitches® at http://www.BuzzTools.com Buzz says it’s as simple as Ready, Set, Go! A program wizard guides you through simple choices and automatically turns your artwork into beautiful stitches.

The search is over when you install Embrillance Thumbnailer. This nifty (and priced-so-right) software program turns all of your embroidery designs into images – or thumbnails as they’re called in the graphics world. You won’t waste any more time digging around computer files to locate your embroidery designs. Now you’ll spot them in a flash. What a time saver! http://www.embrilliance.com

One dilemma we all have is what to do with that pretty embroidery collection we just purchased? Project inspiration awaits you at http://www.NancysNotions.com. Enter DMEMAR2012 in the keyword search box and the vault opens for you. You’ll find dozens of embroidery projects such as quilts, jackets, shirts, home décor accessories to quick start your creative process.

Easy Easter projects are waiting for you at Five Star Fonts and if you’re a first-time buyer, you’ll enjoy 20% off of your first order. Just type dime-mar in the coupon box and you’ll be all set. But hurry up – the coupon expires on May 15, 2012. http://www.FiveStarFonts.com

I know what you’re thinking! You need a little time to take all this in! Enjoy your week perusing the websites and stop by next Wednesday for Part 2!

This week’s assignment:

It’s hard to believe we are 73 issues strong! Every issue is near and dear to our hearts as if they were our own children. Each project has special meaning and significance because they represent writers who love to create and design for you! You, our readers also love to create, design and to be inspired. When you look at it this way, machine embroidery isn’t such a solitary act!

Tell us what your favorite project is from any issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery. One random comment will be the lucky winner of an autographed copy of Designer Handbags by Nancy Zieman and Eileen Roche.

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the following question:

As I mentioned in this blog, the pincushions are so addicting to make. There are endless variations you can come up with. Now think back on all the embroidery projects you have made. Is there a project that comes to mind that was so much fun and addicting to make you had to make more… and more?
Post a comment for a chance to win the book, Machine Embroidered Monograms for the Home.

Machine Embroidered Monograms for the Home includes a CD with embroidery designs– including alphabets and frames that you can use to personalize everything for your home. (Yet a wonderful new addiction!)

The winner is…

Charlotte Brincat!

“I would have to say In The Hoop pouches. I have made so many of them. I might never have tried them because of the fear of messing up the zipper. Now I always have extras done up because they make such great little gifts 🙂 ”

Congratulations Charlotte!

We have a backup plan if Santa does not deliver the goods.

December 21, 2011 by eileenroche / Contests!, Just for Fun / 8 Comments

Don’t leave it up to Santa to deliver the goods you want this year! Take advantage of your last chance to win some some unbelievable prizes! All it takes are four simple steps to enter the Everybody Smiles with Designs contest. All you have to do is ‘like us’ on Facebook (http://www.dzgns.com/facebook). Post a photo on the Designs in Machine Embroidery Facebook page showing your winning smile while holding any copy of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. You can have a lot of fun with this – shoot it in your sewing room, in front of your favorite embroidery project, at your local dealer or buried in your favorite stash!

Tag Designs in Machine Embroidery in your photos, add a caption to your photo and consider yourself entered to win over $6000 worth of prizes – including the grand prize a Koala studio. You’ll find a ton of prizes from Klasse, Sulky, Creative Options, Clover, Madeira, Embroidery Library, Urban Threads, Oliso and Baby Lock.

You have 19 chances to win. The top prize is a Koala Studio and you get to choose the style and color you want. Next, there’s a Madeira Thread Chest (fully stocked with 194 spools and Amazing Designs embroidery collections) followed by the Incredible Threadable Embroidery Box, a nifty double-duty thread storage system full of 80 spools plus bobbin thread.

Baby Lock has so generously contributed a machine trolley and trolley tote for hitting the road with your machine. Have you had your eye on that too-hot-to handle Oliso Smart Iron Pro? You might just win it if you enter the Everybody Smiles with Designs contest. If you do take home the Smart Iron you’ll find it’s not too hot to handle, in fact it’s quite cool. It’s a high tech iron that activates with the touch of your hand.

If you’re a Sulky fan, you’ll be glad to know you might win Sulky’s Embroidery Starter Collection with 27 of the most used 40 wt. rayon colors stashed in a Slimline Storage Box.

Two lucky winners will enjoy $100 shopping spree coupons from two of our favorite design companies: Embroidery Library and Urban Threads.

Of course, what’s a sewing contest without some much-needed tools? Our friends at Floriani have donated Floriani’s Favorite Embroidery Tools Kit which includes EZ Snips, angled tweezers, 4 ½” large ring micro tip scissors, appliqué scissors and 5” straight trimmers.

Hoping to win an heirloom to pass on to the next generation? The Nantucket Sewing Basket from Sudberry House could be yours. You’ll treasure the American dark walnut and maple dowel inlay on the lid and basket base.

We all need something to stitch on and many of us turn to The Sewphisticated Stitcher for fun and funky blanks. They have contributed a Dream Bundle of Blanks that includes a sport bottle, damask apron, damask print canvas bag, zebra print mouse pad and a laptop sleeve – all tucked into the collapsible (and embroiderable!) Market Basket.

To round out the prizes you’ll find Designs’ bundle of Stipple! Collections, Designer Necklines and two one-year subscriptions; Clover’s Mini-Iron and Stack ‘n Stitch Thread Tower; Creative Options Craftician Bag and Klasse’s Embroidery Needle Value pack.

Hurry! The contest ends December 31, 2011. To show our gratitude for your entry, we’ve posted a free design for you to download. Just click here for the rules, prizes and design.

Need inspiration? Check out the latest entry we received from Beth Rowan below. Don’t miss out on your chance to win! Click here to enter now! “Look Ma, I’m stippling!! It may be winter, but the butterflies are still around and we’re having fun!” – Beth Rowan

Your assignment last week:

Tell me what Nancy Zieman uses to press the seams on her Designer Handbag and you could win a copy of Designer Handbags. Does she use a clapper, a seam roll, a wooden dowel or a pressing ham? Leave your comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Designer Handbags.

And the winner is… Lorie! “Nancy uses a wooden dowel.Nancy’s videos are so helpful! I always learn something new.” – Lorie Congratulations!

Everybody Smiles with Designs in Machine Embroidery Contest

September 8, 2011 by eileenroche / Contests!, Just for Fun / 10 Comments

Want a chance to win some very cool – and pricey prizes? All it takes are four simple steps to enter the Everybody Smiles with Designs contest. All you have to do is ‘like us’ on Facebook (http://www.dzgns.com/facebook). Post a photo on the Designs in Machine Embroidery Facebook page showing your winning smile while holding any copy of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. You can have a lot of fun with this – shoot it in your sewing room, in front of your favorite embroidery project, at your local dealer or buried in your favorite stash!

You have 19 chances to win. The top prize is a Koala Studio and you get to choose the style and color you want. Next, there’s a Madeira Thread Chest (fully stocked with 194 spools and Amazing Designs embroidery collections) followed by the Incredible Threadable Embroidery Box, a nifty double-duty thread storage system full of 80 spools plus bobbin thread.

Baby Lock has so generously contributed a machine trolley and trolley tote for hitting the road with your machine. Have you had your eye on that too-hot-to handle Oliso Smart Iron Pro? You might just win it if you enter the Everybody Smiles with Designs contest. If you do take home the Smart Iron you’ll find it’s not too hot to handle, in fact it’s quite cool. It’s a high tech iron that activates with the touch of your hand.

If you’re a Sulky fan, you’ll be glad to know you might win Sulky’s Embroidery Starter Collection with 27 of the most used 40 wt. rayon colors stashed in a Slimline Storage Box.

Two lucky winners will enjoy $100 shopping spree coupons from two of our favorite design companies: Embroidery Library and Urban Threads.

Hoping to win an heirloom to pass on to the next generation? The Nantucket Sewing Basket could be yours. You’ll treasure the American dark walnut and maple dowel inlay on the lid and basket base.

The contest runs from August 29 to October 3, 2011 and to show our gratitude for your entry, we’ve posted a free design for you to download. Just click here for the rules, prizes and design.

In case you didn’t know, there are added benefits to ‘liking’ Designs on Facebook. When you click Like, you’ll have access to the More section of our Facebook page. There you’ll find instructions for the newest project “More Variations” on Eileen’s T-Shirt Revamp as featured in the current Volume 70 Sept/Oct issue.

Once you’re a fan, you’ll have immediate access to all future projects, special coupons and insider information. So come on, what do you have to lose? Like us and be a big winner!

Having difficulty reading the rules for the Facebook contest? Be sure you are using Explorer Version 9 or better, or the most current version of Google Chrome, Firefox, or other internet browser.

Here’s your assignment this week:

Go visit the Designs in Machine Embroidery Facebook page and have a little fun!

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the question:

Have you tried quilting with your embroidery machine? Let us know if you’ve ventured into this wonderful territory by posting a comment. A comment will be randomly chosen to win a copy of Stipple! Butterflies.

“I quilted a Christmas stocking – challenging and fun!” – Beth R.

Congratulations Beth! You are the lucky winner of Stipple! Butterflies! Enjoy!

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